LODZ, Poland (March 17, 2012) – Justin Duff of Winnipeg scored three aces and Gord Perrin of Creston, B.C., contributed six points but it wasn’t enough for Izmir, Turkey as they lost in straight sets to Belchatow, Poland in the Champions League men’s volleyball semifinal.

Izmir, led by Canadian national team coach Glenn Hoag of Gatineau, Que., fell 25-23, 25-21, 28-26 in a match held before more than 13,000 spectators at the Atlas Arena.

“The experience and the team work of Belchatow made the difference this afternoon” said Hoag. “You can clearly see that they have been working with this group for a long time and all this work is finally producing the expected and well deserved results”.

As for the Canadians on his team Hoag said: ‘’this is a great experience for
them.’’

The Canadian men’s team will be looking to land a spot at the Olympics at a qualifying tournament this spring and will return to World League action for the first time since 2007.The Canadian portion of the World League is May 18-20 in Toronto.

The Turkish squad will face Trentino, Italy, which includes Steve Brinkman of Bowmanville, Ont., for the bronze medal on Sunday. The championship match between Belchatow and Kazan, Russia is also on Sunday.